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Kal'ish Vegan Restaurant Coming To Wilson Avenue

By Josh McGhee | August 9, 2016 5:53am | Updated on August 10, 2016 10:50am
 Andy Kalish and Gina Marino-Kalish hope to open Kal'ish, at 1313 W. Wilson Ave. after Labor Day.
Andy Kalish and Gina Marino-Kalish hope to open Kal'ish, at 1313 W. Wilson Ave. after Labor Day.
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DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

UPTOWN — A short order vegan restaurant is heading to Wilson Avenue in Uptown, eyeing a Labor Day opening.

Kal'ish will fill the former space of Forget Me Knodt, at 1313 W. Wilson Ave., next door to Baker and Nosh, according to the Uptown Chicago Commission.

The flower shop closed in April 2015 and has remained vacant since.

The restaurant will be run by husband and wife team Andy Kalish and Gina Marino-Kalish, who got their start in vegetarian and vegan cuisine running a small catering company called Earth Market, at 1224 W. Wilson Ave. in the late 90s and early 2000s.

"The name says it all," said Kalish, adding the spot would sell vegan burgers and fries, but declining to give more details on the menu.

The restaurant plans to eventually expand into the adjacent Baker and Nosh space after the bakery completes its planned relocation next door to Pokiology, which opened Tuesday on Magnolia Avenue.

Kal'ish will eventually use the Baker and Nosh space as a full-service dining area with a grab-and-go space in the middle, said Kalish.

In December 1997, Earth Market opened as a catering company and eventually a restaurant, convinced to offer table service by pedestrians popping in regularly expecting a restaurant in the space.

Three months later, they closed the restaurant portion because "it was eating away all my time and catering profits," Kalish told the Reader at the time.

They would later reopen the restaurant for Sunday brunch and weekday lunch, but shuttered for good after the birth of their son so they could have a more "conventional family," Kalish told the Reader at the time. 

Their son is now a senior in high school," Kalish, said, so the couple is ready, and enthusiastic to return to the restaurant business.

The build out for the space at 1313 W. Wilson Ave. is nearly complete and a grand opening is scheduled for after Labor Day, Sept. 5.

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